Whether working online or in person creating a conducive spatial environment is as important as the relational space you hold for and with clients.
This presentation will offer practical ideas for curating a space for the therapeutic encounters you offer, in a mindful manner, finding ways to create and reimagine a dedicated place in your home, community or professional setting, to invite centredness and calm.
Bring a sketchpad, loose paper or a notebook, to make the most of this session; to help you visualise and plan, making small adjustments to render the existing space in which you work conducive to a professional and therapeutic environment you can be proud of.
Take part in the Q and A to tailor these ideas to your space, ethos and expertise.
This workshop is dedicated to experienced and newly qualified practitioners who feel uncertain about designing a space that feels supportive, and may be especially helpful to those ready to welcome new ideas to reimagine their setting in an intentional way.
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- Design the environment in which you work to reflect your ethic, professionalism and specialisation.
- Plan a space that you can realise with some small (but significant) additions, considerations and adjustments.
- Understand the implications of the spatial environment in which you welcome clients, its potential and role in the therapeutic encounter and process.
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- Counsellors, coaches, therapists, self-employed practitioners, working online or in person, keen to explore easy yet effective possibilities to design their therapeutic space. This workshop welcomes questions to respond and adapt to working in specific contexts, with individuals (adults and children) as well as groups and couples, in private spaces and community settings.
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
- A practical and dialogic workshop for newly qualified and experienced practitioners wanting to understand, improve or reimagine the therapeutic space.
Course Content
Presenter
Dr. Francesca Bernardi PhD is an advocate, author, coach, and artist, with expertise in MA supervision, dis/ability and community engagement. Francesca has an extensive background as a teacher and artist-in-residence, working with children and adults in various settings, including schools, alternative provision, further and higher education, corporate settings, museums, and public spaces (Tate Museums and the RSA.org). She’s dedicated to working with parents and caregivers of children and young people with dis/abilities who have experienced school exclusions and other forms of social discrimination.
Francesca engages in multi-disciplinary and arts-informed practices with marginalized communities, and individuals experiencing loss and homelessness. Her approach is non-hierarchical, socially just, and creative, aiming to nourish healing and personal agency while honouring the wholeness of individuals’ personhood, choices, and capabilities.
Francesca has published her work on autism, arts-informed methodologies, childhood, and children’s rights in books and journals (Bloomsbury, Routledge, Taylor and Francis). She is the founding chair of the Antonio Gramsci Society UK, board member of the Disability Without Abuse Project (2020-), and an Associate Member of CATA/ACAT (the Canadian Art Therapy Association 2021-).
